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waistcoat woes

Please could I have some fitting advice? I’m attempting to make a waistcoat for my husband. I’m at the pattern fitting stage and getting a bit frustrated. I’ve pinned the paper pattern and put it on hubby. The front is a perfect fit, the shoulder and side seams are where they should be and the centre back is spot on, but there is a huge gap from the mid armhole to just before the shoulder seam. I have consulted a number of books which suggest that he has a round back/shoulder area and I would say that he does. I’ve pinned a shoulder dart as per instructions but this just seems to put the shoulder, neck and centre back out of place. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. What I want to do is just pin out the excess as there aren’t sleeves but not sure if that would help. I’d be so grateful for any help xx

Can you post some pix up somewhere to show us a front view, back view, each side, and a close-up of the problem areas? It’s very difficult to advise without seeing. You may need to add to the back length at shoulder level and curve the back seam rather than take anything out, but it’s hard to tell just from a description.

I thought I would have one more go at pattern fitting before taking pictures so I took the pieces apart and re-pinned them. Now the excess is smaller, so much so that I have been able to take it into the shoulder seam. I don’t trust it now, it has a life of it’s own!! Tomorrow I will check it again then maybe brave the fabric. :)

11/2018 Part 2

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